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Coming into the 2018-19 NBA campaign, the Indiana Pacers had it all. They had the All-Star in Victor Oladipo. They had the stout defense. They had the depth. No, they didn't have the resume of the Boston Celtics. No, they didn't have the rabid fanbase of the Toronto Raptors. No, they didn't have the Philadelphia 76ers' media fanfare.
What they did have, however, was a very good team that had a legitimate shot of making a deep playoff run.
As a matter of fact, going into the season, I had the Pacers—not the 76ers or the Milwaukee Bucks—ranked behind the Celtics and the Raptors as the third-best team in the Eastern Conference.
But then, in January, tragedy struck.
In what was otherwise just a potential playoff preview between the Pacers and the Raptors, Oladipo went down with a devastating ruptured quad tendon, effectively ending his season and putting his future in doubt.
With Oladipo going down, so did Indiana's playoff hopes with him.
Yes, the Pacers have fought valiantly since Oladipo's injury, scratching and clawing their way to 40 wins before the end of February, but deep down, we all know what Indiana's fate will be come playoff time.
Without Oladipo, the Pacers simply do not have the firepower to mess with the other top four teams in the East, and it's entirely possible that they will end up exiting the postseason in the first round.
Now, to paint an accurate picture, it does seem unlikely that Indiana would have represented the Eastern Conference in the finals even of Oladipo had remained healthy, but it certainly would have had an outside chance.
But at this point, the Pacers resemble nothing more than the Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls in 2013 and 2014, a tough, scrappy team that had massive hearts, but just not enough talent to do much of anything in the postseason.
Indiana has some good players. Myles Turner is the model modern center. Domantas Sabonis is an efficient machine. Thaddeus Young is a Swiss army knife. Bojan Bogdanovic is having a breakout season.
Still, the Pacers lack an All-Star, and by now, we know that stars win in the playoffs.
What makes this so much worse is that Indiana was a genuinely likeable team. While Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons were busy whining and complaining to the media incessantly, the Pacers displayed a genuine calmness and a humble nature, qualities which Oladipo exuded.
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Even last year while Indiana was embroiled in a tight seven-game playoff series with the Cleveland Cavaliers and appeared to be on the verge of upsetting LeBron James, Oladipo and Indiana remained remarkably stoic in postgame news conferences, a clear indication of a team that collectively has a good head on its shoulders and understands the task at hand.
Out of the top five teams in the East, the Pacers are the one squad that does not garner much media attention. The Celtics, Raptors and 76ers all play in large markets, and the Bucks have a human highlight reel in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Naturally, those four clubs have generated all of the headlines, for better or for worse.
The one time the Pacers did dominate the news? When Oladipo got hurt last month.
Obviously, Indy's future completely depends on how Oladipo's rehabilitation process goes. He is in uncharted territory, as the only other NBA players to suffer his type of injury have been Tony Parker and Charles Barkley, both of whom were at the end of their careers when the injury struck them. Oladipo's case is different, as the guard is in the prime of his NBA tenure.
So, no one really knows just how ‘Dipo is going to come back from this. He could end up not missing a beat, or he could end up losing a step that he will never get back. It remains to be seen.
But let's err on the side of positivity and say that Oladipo will be just fine. The Pacers will then be getting their All-Star back, and guys like Turner and Sabonis will have another year under their belts. With the right moves in free agency and shrewd trades and draft picks, Indiana could catapult itself into legitimate title contention within the next couple of seasons.
It's never an easy journey, but the Pacers are not nearly as far away as a host of other “contenders” who are actually pretenders littering the NBA landscape.
It all depends on Oladipo, and it is a shame that it has come to this point.
Get well soon, ‘Dipo. The NBA needs you.
